Music Review: Fall Out Boy "Alone Together"

Fall Out Boy

Alone Together

Album: Save Rock and Roll

Year: 2013

          Patrick Stump latches onto to a melancholy young woman in the sensitive   “Alone Together.”

            An amicable guitar opens the single, setting a comfortable tone. The chorus starts the song. He sips his beer and stretches his legs out on the floor. He glances at the young woman in the family room with him.She hasn’t said a word since she’s arrived. Every so often, she’ll sit up on the couch and change the television channel. Each time, though she goes backs the cartoon. He decides to join her on the couch. He says he can relate to her. Somedays, he’d prefer not to talk either. Like her, he’s lost and it’s as though he doesn’t have a future. He doesn’t have a desire to talk to his family. They dimiss his depression as “being dramatic” and roll their eyes. Their lives suck and aren’t going to improve anytime soon. However, he adds they can both share in each other’s misery. Even as they age, in their minds they will always be the the moody twentysomethings they are now. (“I don't know where you're going/But do you got room for one more troubled soul?/I don't know where I'm going/But I don't think I'm coming home and I'll say/"I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead"/This is the road to ruin/And we started at the end/Say it, (yeah)/Let's be alone together, (yeah)/We could stay young forever, (yeah)/Scream it from the top of your lungs/Say it, (yeah)/Let's be alone together, (yeah)/We could stay young forever, (yeah)/We'll stay young, young, young, young, young/Yeah/Yeah.”)

             She gives him a cold stare and he apologizes, quickly explaining that he never says the right thing. He just keeps going on and on, not ever paying attention to social cues. Her lips bend into a hesitant smile. He tells her he has a good heart and a lot of girls are interested in him, believing they could save him. He turns his head in the direction of the bedroom, asking if she wants to sleep with him. (“You cut me off, I lost my track/It's not my fault, I'm a maniac/It's not funny anymore, no it's not/My heart is like a stallion/They love it more when it's broken/Do you wanna feel beautiful?/Do you wanna, uh/Yeah.”)

             In the pre-chorus, he tells her he would like to get to know her. She doesn’t have to actually like him, though. However, he’s willing to be her friend for real if she lets him. He offers her some weed. (“I'm outside the door, invite me in/So we can go back and play pretend/I'm on deck now, I'm up next/Tonight, I'm high as a private jet.”)

                The chorus is sung again.

                Part of the first verse is sung again. (“My heart is like a stallion/They love it more when it's broken/Do you wanna feel beautiful?/Do you wanna, huh/Yeah.”)

                The pre-chorus is sung again.

                 The last half of the chorus is sung. (“Say it, (yeah)/Let's be alone together, (yeah)…we'll stay young, young young.”)

                The first half of the chorus is sung to end the single. (“I don't know where you're going..and we started at the end.”)

            Stump’s pretty vocals are unblemished and overmoisturized. There’s not a speck dirt on him. He’s got his act together, despite his cries of being the black sheep. He cozies up to her, wanting her to like him, even if means hyperbolizing his loneliness.

    The incohesive  “Alone Together” wants it both ways: to be the hero and rescue the damsel in distress while claiming to be misunderstood. It loses its grip on both roles.